Ant Man has been around forever. Not only is he a founding member of the Avengers, but he was also in the original HeroClix Set where he was one of the first Con Exclusive pieces. The guy was so small, he din't even have a sculpt! But now, Pym particles and all, Dr. Hank Pym surfaces as one of four Ant-Man pieces in Supernova! Do come in and see how our tiny hero measures up, won’t you?

Click “Read More” to view the rest of the article.

He’ll never get an award for Husband of the Year, but Hank is actually a prize himself.


#205 LE Dr. Hank Pym
Team: Avengers
Range: 6 /
Points: 59

8 9 16 2

7 9 16 1

7 9 15 1

6 8 15 1

6 8 15 1

5 7 14 1

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

And his counterpart.

#050 E Ant-Man
Team: No Affiliation
Range: 4 /
Points: 66

7 9 18 2

7 9 17 1

6 8 18 1

6 8 18 1

5 7 17 1

5 7 16 1

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

LE Dr. Hank Pym’s Gains vs. Experienced Ant-Man
Hank’s two most obvious gains are flight and the always useful Avengers TA. Digging into his dial, we find that he’s quite a bit different than his Experienced version. New powers on Hank’s dial include Energy Explosion and Earthbound for two clicks each. Not much excitement there. He’s also got two clicks of Energy Shield/Deflection, Combat Reflexes and Barrier. These are a bit more interesting. However, his most tantalizing additions are his two clicks of Support, two of Enhancement, and one of Close Combat Expert. Now that’s a whole lot of fun packed into a very small package! Also worth mentioning is that Hank’s got a third click with a nine (9) attack value.

LE Dr. Hank Pym’s Losses vs. Experienced Ant-Man
This LE goes through some interesting power changes, and as such, he drops a number of powers. Hank never gets any of the Super Senses, Leap/Climb, or Stealth which are staples on the REV’s dials. Defend, which only appears on the Experienced Ant-Man’s dial does not cross over to the LE, either. Power reductions are limited to the subtraction of two clicks of Perplex, and three clicks of Incapacitate. Numerically, Hank suffers as well, never attaining the heights of a 17 or 18 defense which is the Ant-Man’s most memorable attribute.

Neutral Dial Tinkering
None to speak of. Every adjustment to Hank’s dial makes him a little bigger or a little smaller.

Cards that Work
For a modest investment of points, 10 to be exact, outfit Dr. Pym with Force Field. That should serve to prolong his life a bit by granting him Toughness on his ES/D and Barrier clicks. For just a few more points, a riskier tactic is to apply Construct to Hank. Since Barrier only appears on his last two clicks it’s a bit of a gamble as to whether or not he’ll be able to use it, but it gives his Barriers a bit more power by forcing the opposition to break away from ant swarms.

Most of Hank’s best powers, like Perplex and Support, are popular targets for Outwit. Using the Resistance battlefield condition grants him immunity to Outwit so long as he remains adjacent to a fellow Avenger. Being a lower point figure, Ant-Man would also derive benefit from Rally, should the Avengers’ leader fall in combat.

If ol_Dut had to Choose
LE Dr. Hank Pym vs. Experienced Ant-Man? Ever since the pre-release, I’ve been a big fan of the Ant-Man REV. He’s alternately a great harasser and an excellent support piece. However, be that as it may, LE Dr. Hank Pym is the better of the two pieces being addressed today.

Dr. Pym is a support piece that does it all. He Perplexes, he Supports, he Enhances. Opening with Perplex has obvious advantages. Not only can he fly a big gun into battle, but he can aid in their attack roll or damage total with is perplex. And when he’s able to act again himself, using Perplex he’s capable of dealing three (3) damage to his target. It’s not even a bad idea to push Hank, as even better than Perplex, the promise of Support awaits on his second and third clicks. Given his reliable nine (9) attack, it shouldn’t be difficult for the good Doctor to get any injured Avenger back into fighting shape very quickly. As a bonus, there’s that one click of CCE that, with a little luck, he may just get to use. Granted, his attack value is down to an eight (8) at that point, but it will be priceless if he connects. Lastly, once Hank has either pushed hard or taken a shot, Enhancement arrives at the end of his dial, enabling him to contribute even when his combat values start to wane. When Enhancement appears on his dial, so does Earthbound, making him a perfect tag-along for any mobile flying shooter. Absent a solid flier, Hank will do well just standing behind one or more figures with a ranged attack.

Experienced Ant-Man isn’t a bad figure. Neither are the Rookie and the Vet. The main issue with those figures is that they’re just a bit boring, really. Barring the minor tweak to the Rookie, REV Ant-Man is primarily about Stealth, Super Senses, and an annoyingly high defense. A player doesn’t need much imagination to put REV Ants to use, and thanks to those 18 defenses, taking him out requires a great deal more luck than skill. That’s why the LE is such a welcome addition to the fold. Flight, his TA and his variety of support powers provide him a much broader range of potential contributions. And that morphing array of powers is what mandates greater thoughtfulness and strategy in his use, ultimately making him a more entertaining figure to play.

Quick and Dirty Price Tag
Tiny little hero. Tiny little price. For less than $7, Hank can fly his way to your house if you don't have the chance to win him. Don't let that price tag fool you though. Even though his cost is small, he's big fun to play!

That's all for this week. Next week we'll try for that Arthur Douglas guy again. Thanks for reading!

I'm actually a fan of Nanobots on Dr. Hank Pym. It allows you to push onto Support when you need to, and then heal him back up to Perplex once he's done his healing job.

I was dissapointed at the lack of an Ant on his sculpt, but Hank Pym is still really good. The Support and Enhancement are awesome for an Avengers flier.

I don't know if I agree with your assessment. The Doctor is so much more easy to get rid of than the E, that I think I would go with anything that was supporting a juicey 18 over a 16.

With T-bolts in the game, the doctor is a more flexible piece, but with retirement around the corner, going back to the free move TA bonus is like going back to dorm food after you've been on Christmas break for a couple of weeks.

I am not a huge fan of Support so I might be a bit bias, but I think the push friendly Perplex on the E wins me over.

Pie in the sky hopes. Ha.

Nice review, dude. I really like the idea of Ant-Man being a flier (on a flying ant, say), but the thought of him "fly(ing) a big gun into battle" is a little ridiculous. Same with Wasp...she's one of the great oldschool taxis (along with good ol' Vulture), but it didn't really make a whole lot of sense when she'd carry Cap around.

Maybe Pym uses his Pym particles to shrink down his passenger first, then grows them back up again when they're at their destination? Do I get a no-prize?

It's actually 'High apple pie in the sky hopes', not vice versa.

(But I get it. It's a flight joke.)

That's a great strategy - I've used it with the exp. Dr. Midnite (in reverse)with tremendous success.

What a great little support piece

Now the the bad Pun is over, I like the Dr. a lot. what a great dial for a support piece. Perplex, then Support, then Enhancement! Count me in as a big fan. Now I just need to find out what week he will be the prize, so I can bring the judge a pizza to sway his fellowship vote

Man, this is the main LE I want. SOMEONE TRADE HIM TO ME! I HAVE DRAX LE!

I'll take 18 defenses Super-senses and stealthed perplex anyday.

We can agree to disagree.

Except I'm right.

Anyway, good review!

Wrong, but good!

wait! this was a March Prize?

What month is it now?? SonofaSailor! Why wasn't i notified! What happend to the memo? I had better cancel that pizza order

Off to the trade-lands I guess

Great review, 'dut!
I always have really liked this figure. I do wish that that click of CCE could have been Outwit instead, not only to make him the ultimate support piece, but so that he'd qualify for Brilliant Tactician on that spankin' first click of his. I see this LE as the Dr. Pym of Byrne's West Coast Avengers run, and think the BT would really fit. It would also be cool to have a relatively inexpensive BT for the Avengers (yeah, I know, like they NEED the help, but still...).
Consider the Archive Revue updated!

I'm not terribly thrilled with him, honestly, but I think after reading this review I'll give him a shot on a high-point Avengers team at some point. I think for a standard constructed I'd rather have the R or V (though I do agree the LE is better than the E, easily).

I was not thrilled when I first saw him, but maybe I will give him a second look.